Gretchen Carlson takes her fight against workplace silence on sexual misconduct to Beacon Hill

The national hush-money debate took center stage in Boston, with former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson defending her $20 million settlement and saying she wouldn’t rule out a future political run.

Carlson, who came to the State House Monday to push a ban on nondisclosure agreements, was asked by a local female TV reporter why she just didn’t give the money back if she wanted to speak out.

“Our culture makes you ask that question,” said Carlson, who filed a lawsuit against Fox News chief Roger Ailes in 2016, saying she was demoted and then fired after she rejected Ailes’ sexual advances and complained about workplace harassment.

“So when women are paid in settlements, they’re not just paid to shut up,” Carlson said. “They’re also paid for their career because they never work again.”

Carlson, the first of more than 20 women to accuse Ailes of sexual misconduct, got the settlement and a public apology from Fox but had to sign a nondisclosure agreement that prevents her from telling her story. Carlson’s courage sparked the #MeToo movement.

The former on-air host said nearly all of the thousands of women who have reached out to her say the same thing: “When I found the courage to come forward, I was promptly blacklisted, demoted and fired and I’ve never worked in my chosen profession ever again.”

Carlson and former Fox contributor Julie Roginsky, who also settled a sexual harassment case with Fox, joined Sen. Diana DiZoglio, D-Methuen, and Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington, to call on Bay State lawmakers to end the secret deals that silence victims and block the use of tax dollars to pay for them.

Carlson and Roginsky recently launched a nonprofit, “Lift Our Voices,” whose mission is to stop NDAs in the workplace. Carlson said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is among the presidential contenders who have yet to support their fight to ban them.

Carlson’s NDA keeps her from talking about her portrayal in the movie “Bombshell” but Roginsky wanted to make one thing clear.

“There’s one person that really forced Roger Ailes’ departure and that was Gretchen Carlson,” Roginsky said. “There was a lot of pressure to come out against Gretchen … and a lot of women did, unfortunately, and that’s the most disappointing thing.”

Carlson has asked Fox to release her from her NDA, but the network has been silent. As for a future political run, Carlson, a lifelong independent, said: “If there’s ever a chance for my voice to be necessary in the political process then I would never say that I would rule it out.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2RwmNFw